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A racy start to `Kurukshetra 07'

FLYING START: J.D. Madhan, racing champion, explains the nitty-gritty of modern automobiles to keen enthusiasts at a workshop held at Anna University as part of `Kurukshetra 07' on Thursday. Photo: S.S. Kumar

CHENNAI: Students from across the country learnt how to build autonomous robots, ethically hack networks and upgrade automobiles to racing standards at the Anna University here on Thursday.

Workshops entitled `Autonomous Robotics', `Ethical Hacking' and `Need for Speed' were organised as part of `Kurukshetra 07', the first student-driven tech festival at the University.

Around 100 students, each selected through an online screening process, participated in the workshops.

Palpable excitement

The excitement at the automobile workshop was palpable, with students ecstatic to meet their racing icons, said organisers. For example, J.D. Madan, three time national champion in salon cars, has clocked the fastest quarter-mile.

He interacted with students, along with racers from country championships, in a session that included a demonstration of the differences between the racer and other spare parts.

Performance upgrades and riding techniques were discussed with the help of racing cars and a bike.

Simulated demonstration

The first person from Chennai to clear the Checkpoint Firewall told students about ethical hacking with a live demonstration of hacking into a simulated network. The basics of network security and the ways in which hackers can attack a network were covered by Koti Reddy, Cisco Certified Internet Expert, and managing director, Sansbound Solutions.

Kinds of attack

The kinds of attack including system hacking, session hijacking and password sniffing were discussed with methods to counter such attacks. Ethical hacking was a responsible way of entering another's domain, utilising loopholes in the system rather than breaking in, explained Shyam, Centre Manager, Sansbound.

Experts from the Robotics Training Institute handled the workshop on the fundamentals of designing and building autonomous robots.

Twenty-three teams of three students each received take-away robotics kits to build `Sumo robots', to clash in wrestling competitions on Friday.